Disrespecting Fandoms - NOT COOL!
Disrespecting Fandoms- Not Cool
Let’s not forget ‘fan’ is short for ‘fanatic’. And that by definition means intense emotion, dedication and degrees of obsession. If you’re creating a work of fiction, a TV series or a movie in this day in age, particularly if it is in the genres of Fantasy or Sci-fi you are in fact doing it TO GENERATE FANS!!! And if you don’t know that or accept that, you are indeed in need of a mental health professional because you are not on the right page kidlet.
Now the thing about EVERY SINGLE FANDOM in the world is that it is made up of individuals, small groups of like-minded individuals and larger groups of like-minded individuals. For everyone who loves one character there will be those who dislike or even hate the character. For every one pairing that may be possible (Please note the use of possible not necessarily probable.) there will be people who run the line of ‘Yeah I can totally see it and love it’, through ‘Well I suppose so but it’s not very likely’, all the way to, ‘Ewwww no way, never not in a million years’. Now please refer back to the definition of fan and you will see why the individuals and groups of individuals concerned will then become passionate and vocal about their choices. THAT’S WHAT’S SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!!!
Now what often happens then, especially in the age of the internet, FB, twitter et al, is the differing opinioned fans will defend their vision to all comers especially those who watch the show and don’t seem to share the vision, it is the nature of the human beastie so to do. And sometimes it’s done stupidly and viciously and nastily, because bottom line some people are stupid, vicious and nasty, ergo so are some fans. However it is also done thoughtfully, open-mindedly and good-naturedly because, well see the previous description people are these things too.
And so the fans come on the forums and Tumblr and, etc. and they duke it out. They go to Cons and fly the colours of their chosen fandom and their chosen pairings and views on the fandoms. And it is glorious and wonderful and every single producer, writer and creator should be incredibly grateful for that as they count their artistic and monetary returns from the phenomenon, because they would be nowhere without the fans.
It would however appear that more and more of the up and coming creators aren’t willing to put in the effort to embrace all of their fans, even if network and backer considerations mean they can’t necessarily cater to all the diverse needs of their fanbase. Indeed they behave as if their fans are nothing but an encumbrance and a pain the ass. They need to wake up and realise there is still a respectful and professional way to handle this situation. They seem to be opting instead to descending into the open fray within the fandoms themselves and taking sides. NOT COOL guys!!! NOT COOL!
And don’t be all “But Moooommm, they just wouldn’t leave it alone! They kept pushing and pushing and wouldn’t take a polite no for an answer, it’s all those stupid shippers and slashers fault!" Because honey that’s just lame, you want the fame you take the challenge of staying open and professional with all your fans.
And if you decide to play the, well no one else would put up with this shit card, well where the flippin heck were you in the 90s??? Because this has all happened before you know.
(I’ll put aside the seperate and valid issue that we ALL should ruddy well have moved on enough in two decades that a leading female paired romance shouldn’t even BE an issue by now because that little nut is a university dissertation piece.)
So I just have to say; Oh for the glory days of Rob and Sam in the Xenaverse where the rule for the creators and writers and stars was, “Wow, you see that in the show? Terrific! Oh and you see something else completely? Wonderful! Isn’t it wonderful that there’s something for everyone?!".
They never said at the time one way or another if X&G were a couple or X&A or G&V, or whatever; they allowed all the fans to ship who they liked, acknowledged the different preferences and fed them ALL with tips of the nib throughout the show. (The flame wars and fights were left among the fans)
What they DID NOT do was smack down any group of fans for sharing what longings or wishes their show had invoked for them. They did not disrespect or dismiss anyone, no matter how loud, how pushy or how disruptive.
They listened to fans, thanked them and respected the fans’ vision, but at the same time stayed true to the product they wanted and intended to make. I mean nobody was happy with Xena’s death but it was the way the CREATORS of the show chose to end it.
So as a SwanQueen shipper, no I don’t expect my vision to suddenly become canon, but yes I do expect what I have seen and taken from the show to be, one, acknowledged and two, not dismissed and slapped down by the creators. That doesn’t mean I think everyone sees or appreciates the same things in the show, god what a boring world that would be. I’d just like these youngsters to take a leaf out of the Xena book and have a little class and patience with their fans. Even the ones who come on strong and are in your face, and are indeed FANATICS.
BATTLE ON KIDLETS
All the Breast
XV (aka XenaVirgin aka Lara Hart)
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Let’s not forget ‘fan’ is short for ‘fanatic’. And that by definition means intense emotion, dedication and degrees of obsession. If you’re creating a work of fiction, a TV series or a movie in this day in age, particularly if it is in the genres of Fantasy or Sci-fi you are in fact doing it TO GENERATE FANS!!! And if you don’t know that or accept that, you are indeed in need of a mental health professional because you are not on the right page kidlet.
Now the thing about EVERY SINGLE FANDOM in the world is that it is made up of individuals, small groups of like-minded individuals and larger groups of like-minded individuals. For everyone who loves one character there will be those who dislike or even hate the character. For every one pairing that may be possible (Please note the use of possible not necessarily probable.) there will be people who run the line of ‘Yeah I can totally see it and love it’, through ‘Well I suppose so but it’s not very likely’, all the way to, ‘Ewwww no way, never not in a million years’. Now please refer back to the definition of fan and you will see why the individuals and groups of individuals concerned will then become passionate and vocal about their choices. THAT’S WHAT’S SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!!!
Now what often happens then, especially in the age of the internet, FB, twitter et al, is the differing opinioned fans will defend their vision to all comers especially those who watch the show and don’t seem to share the vision, it is the nature of the human beastie so to do. And sometimes it’s done stupidly and viciously and nastily, because bottom line some people are stupid, vicious and nasty, ergo so are some fans. However it is also done thoughtfully, open-mindedly and good-naturedly because, well see the previous description people are these things too.
And so the fans come on the forums and Tumblr and, etc. and they duke it out. They go to Cons and fly the colours of their chosen fandom and their chosen pairings and views on the fandoms. And it is glorious and wonderful and every single producer, writer and creator should be incredibly grateful for that as they count their artistic and monetary returns from the phenomenon, because they would be nowhere without the fans.
It would however appear that more and more of the up and coming creators aren’t willing to put in the effort to embrace all of their fans, even if network and backer considerations mean they can’t necessarily cater to all the diverse needs of their fanbase. Indeed they behave as if their fans are nothing but an encumbrance and a pain the ass. They need to wake up and realise there is still a respectful and professional way to handle this situation. They seem to be opting instead to descending into the open fray within the fandoms themselves and taking sides. NOT COOL guys!!! NOT COOL!
And don’t be all “But Moooommm, they just wouldn’t leave it alone! They kept pushing and pushing and wouldn’t take a polite no for an answer, it’s all those stupid shippers and slashers fault!" Because honey that’s just lame, you want the fame you take the challenge of staying open and professional with all your fans.
And if you decide to play the, well no one else would put up with this shit card, well where the flippin heck were you in the 90s??? Because this has all happened before you know.
(I’ll put aside the seperate and valid issue that we ALL should ruddy well have moved on enough in two decades that a leading female paired romance shouldn’t even BE an issue by now because that little nut is a university dissertation piece.)
So I just have to say; Oh for the glory days of Rob and Sam in the Xenaverse where the rule for the creators and writers and stars was, “Wow, you see that in the show? Terrific! Oh and you see something else completely? Wonderful! Isn’t it wonderful that there’s something for everyone?!".
They never said at the time one way or another if X&G were a couple or X&A or G&V, or whatever; they allowed all the fans to ship who they liked, acknowledged the different preferences and fed them ALL with tips of the nib throughout the show. (The flame wars and fights were left among the fans)
What they DID NOT do was smack down any group of fans for sharing what longings or wishes their show had invoked for them. They did not disrespect or dismiss anyone, no matter how loud, how pushy or how disruptive.
They listened to fans, thanked them and respected the fans’ vision, but at the same time stayed true to the product they wanted and intended to make. I mean nobody was happy with Xena’s death but it was the way the CREATORS of the show chose to end it.
So as a SwanQueen shipper, no I don’t expect my vision to suddenly become canon, but yes I do expect what I have seen and taken from the show to be, one, acknowledged and two, not dismissed and slapped down by the creators. That doesn’t mean I think everyone sees or appreciates the same things in the show, god what a boring world that would be. I’d just like these youngsters to take a leaf out of the Xena book and have a little class and patience with their fans. Even the ones who come on strong and are in your face, and are indeed FANATICS.
BATTLE ON KIDLETS
All the Breast
XV (aka XenaVirgin aka Lara Hart)
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